The ongoing brand-new K-drama High School Return of a Gangster is an adaptation of author Horol’s highly popular manhwa, I, A Gangster, Became a High School Student. The manhwa has also been released as a webtoon of the same name.
Ever since the series debuted on May 29, 2024, on Wavve and TVING, viewers have been discussing its genre. The original manhwa and webtoon by Horol belong to the BL (Boys’ Love) genre. However, the K-drama High School Return of a Gangster has shifted from BL to Bromance. Thus, fans of the webtoon have been wondering why the production company made this change.
As per Hankook Ilbo, in February 2024, an official stated that the series is not a BL. Another official from CGV also said that the original webtoon is a BL but not a combined video. The K-drama’s production team further explained why they wanted to keep the series as a “Bromance”.
High School Return of a Gangster K-drama: What did the production team say about moving away from BL webtoon?
As mentioned earlier, the production team of TVING’s High School Return of a Gangster has stated the reason behind their decision to move away from the BL genre of the original webtoon. On February 24, 2024, as reported by Hankook Ilbo, the production team said, “It is true that the BL genre has limitations in investment in production costs and recoup (recovery of production costs). So, from the beginning, we wanted to try this work as a bromance.”
The production team also discussed why they decided to adapt the original webtoon into a K-drama. They said that they found the characters and elements of the webtoon quite arresting.
Meanwhile, fans have taken to X (Formerly known as Twitter) to express their views on High School Return of a Gangster. They have pointed out its shift from the BL genre of the original work to Bromance. However, they have also appreciated the chemistry between the lead actors.
Take a closer look at some of the fan reactions below.
The main cast list of the K-drama includes Yoon Chan-Young as Song Yi-Heon, aka Kim Deuk Pal and Bong Jae-Hyun as Choi Se-Kyung. The supporting cast includes Lee Seo-Jin, Won Tae-Min, Hwang Bo-Ra, Ko Dong-Ok, Joo Yoon-Chan and more.
Viewers can watch High School Return of a Gangster on TVING and Wavve.
